Man tried to help stranger survive

Bystander, who administered CPR to shooting victim, says no one else was doing anything

STOCKTON - Police released a 10-minute surveillance video Monday that shows a man said to be Eric Madison, 21, walking along Oak Street near American Street about 10:15 a.m. Sunday when a white vehicle pulls up behind him and someone shoots him.

STOCKTON - Police released a 10-minute surveillance video Monday that shows a man said to be Eric Madison, 21, walking along Oak Street near American Street about 10:15 a.m. Sunday when a white vehicle pulls up behind him and someone shoots him.

Madison was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries, police said.

Homicide detectives described the vehicle as possibly a two-door Ford Thunderbird from the 1990s with tinted windows or a similar vehicle.

A man visiting his girlfriend who lives nearby heard gunfire and joined several people at the scene of the shooting before police arrived.

Except for sharing a cigarette with Madison earlier that morning, Demeritt Brown, 24, said he had never met Madison before and made it clear he was not a witness to the shooting. That did not stop Brown from jumping in to assist Madison before he died.

"I was the one that was giving him mouth to mouth and why he was still breathing. He died in my arms," Brown recalled Monday.

"I heard gunshots. I was worried about my baby's mama. I rushed outside - a neighbor said somebody's hit. I heard him gasping for air. Hella people standing around just looking at him while he's dying. I don't even know the dude, but I just smoked a cigarette with him 45 minutes earlier. I can't start pushing on his chest - I didn't see any bullet holes. He was wearing two coats," Brown said, retelling the moments just as quickly as they flashed by.

It was raining heavily that morning. Brown said, "Ain't nobody doing nothing for him. My baby's mama put her jacket over his head. He woke up a little bit. 'Lil brother, if you can hear me, bra, help is on the way. You feel me, keep breathing, bra, keep breathing,' " Brown recalled saying to Madison. "He was gasping for air. I kept talking to him, giving him more air."

When police arrived at the scene, Brown said, it appeared to him that they didn't want to be there.

"The officer stood around worrying about what was going on around him. He was scared of the people in the neighborhood," Brown said. He took offense at a statement attributed to department spokesman Officer Joe Silva that the crowd of onlookers was hostile and "acting belligerently toward our officers by yelling obscenities."

Brown said, "There is a reason for that. They watch the little dude fade away before they do anything. I will never forget that officer's face.

"It ain't even that it's the treatment that they get from the police. There are people who deserve to go to jail, and all police aren't bad, but it's how police treat people," Brown said. "How the Stockton police is portraying the citizens of its own city. If the people are mad, they are mad and belligerent for a reason - because he got hit, because he got killed? No, there is more to it than that," he said.

Silva, the police spokesman, said the first officer arrived at 10:18 a.m., three minutes after being alerted by 911 dispatch.

"When a responding officer responds to a shooting scene, that officer has a lot of different tactical duties and responsibilities such as ascertaining information, if anyone knows if an armed suspect or suspects are still in the area, the condition of the victim, is the victim being tended to, and if there are additional victims," Silva said.

"While all of this is going on, that officer must also guide other officers and medical personnel into the scene safely," he said.

Silva said the Police Department is well aware "there are cooperative people that live in high-crime neighborhoods. That is why we are working ever so hard in helping them eliminate crime in their neighborhoods by directly working side by side with those citizens. We definitely appreciate the information and tips we have been receiving from our community in regards to suspects who are engaging in criminal activity."

Police are encouraging citizens to call if they have information pertaining to the homicide. Callers are asked to contact the Investigations Division at (209) 937-8323 or Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600. Callers can remain anonymous.

Citizens also can text information to CRIMES (274637) and type the keyword TIPSPD and then their tip; or log on to the Stockton Police Department's Facebook page and click "Submit A Tip."

If you have any information that may lead to an arrest, Crime Stoppers will pay a cash reward up to $10,000.